


A Song For Four Hands

by Winglesss



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Celebrity Crush, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, Meet-Cute, Musician Castiel (Supernatural), Pianist Castiel (Supernatural), Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 10:51:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19004263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winglesss/pseuds/Winglesss
Summary: While waiting for his flight, Dean sits down at one of the public pianos. A stranger joins him and they play a beautiful duet. Later, Dean finds out that Castiel Novak is a professional musician and decides to contact him.Inspired bythis video





	A Song For Four Hands

Dean’s painfully bored. His flight has been delayed due to weather and he only has a few days to stay with Sammy so each hour he wastes makes him more and more annoyed. He already fed up with reading and listening to music and his phone battery is too low to waste it on playing games. He shifts on the hard chair trying to find a comfortable position which is impossible by now, his back and limbs are aching. He decides to take a little walk even though he knows there’s nothing to see.

He walks watching people, thinking about where are they going, trying to guess who’s waiting for the same flight as himself.

A spark of interest flares up in him when he hears the high tones of a piano. It doesn’t take long to locate it. It’s a public piano and there’s a small girl sitting on the bench just hitting the keys randomly. When her mother notices Dean lurking nearby she calls her away. Dean seizes the opportunity and sits down. He’s not a very good but he likes to play, it feels relaxing. He doesn’t have a piano at home so he can’t practice regularly but Charlie has one in her coffee shop which he plays during slow hours.

He plays a tune from Amelie and immediately loses himself in the music. He’s startled by the few people who clap when he finishes. He smiles shyly. The people around make him a little uncomfortable but he’s not ready to give up just yet the only thing that makes his waiting bearable. He ignores the bystanders and starts another tune. A simplified version of Ludovico Einaudi’s song.

He’s halfway through it, enjoying himself when he feels somebody sitting next to him on the bench. Dean’s fingers stumble over the keys and come to a halt. He looks up at the stranger.

"Ludovico Einaudi," the guy says in a husky voice with a slight accent - Russian maybe, definitely eastern Europe.

The first thing Dean notices beside the voice is his eyes. They are so blue and clear he feels like he’s just fell in cool water. Their color is highlighted by the contrast of his dark hair and stubble. He looks like he’s been waiting at least as long as Dean, but he’s still painfully handsome.

"Yeah," Dean answers a little too late. The guy’s pink lips curl up into a soft smile before he looks down at the keys. "You like him? I do," he says. The accent is strangely charming.

"I do, but I can’t play anything else by him. Do you play?" Dean asks while he studies his dark hoodie and worn out jeans.

The stranger huffs out a little laugh before raising his incredible eyes to meet Dean’s. He’s staring at him for a long moment, deep in consideration. Dean doesn’t mind staring back.

"Yes, I play. Do you want to play together?" he asks, at last, rolling the r that should be silent. It makes Dean smile.

"Yeah, of course. I’m Dean by the way." He extends his hand, the guy grasps it but hesitates.

"I’m Castiel," he says and it seems like he’s waiting for Dean’s reaction. Dean doesn’t have any. It’s an unusual name, but he’s apparently a foreigner so it’s not that surprising.

"Alright, Cas. What are we gonna play?" Dean asks to avoid the silence turning awkward.

"Play what you just played," Castiel prompts him.

Dean takes a deep breath and plays the Einaudi fragment. Castiel is listening intently, then he raises his hand to stop Dean.

"Alright, from the beginning."

"All the way back?" Dean asks to make sure.

"Yes, but just this theme. The first part. Play it over and over."

Dean nods and starts to play again, curious about Castiel’s plan.

Castiel lets Dean play the theme once, swaying gently in the rhythm. Then he joins in.

He plays his own melody, complementing Dean’s base. All the tones played by four hands entwining perfectly.

It’s so beautiful Dean has a hard time to focus. And Castiel himself isn’t making it any easier. His hands are slender but strong and they fly over the keys like butterflies, caressing them with almost a lover’s touch.

Dean can smell his cologne, it’s not the cheap stuff he uses himself, and he can’t help himself but look at Castiel’s profile. He has a focused expression on his chiseled face but his eyes are smiling, his lips are relaxed.

Dean realizes he’s slowing, falling out of rhythm. He makes a disgruntled noise, scolding himself wordlessly. Castiel just smiles and keeps with him as Dean fixes the rhythm.

The music soars and spreads through the airport hall attracting a small crowd of people, but Dean doesn’t pay them any attention, he’s fully focused on the music. And on Castiel who plays with just one hand for a moment, then his other hand reaches between Dean’s. Their left hands move in sync like in a dance and Dean feels his own face split in a wide grin.

Castiel’s thigh is pressed to his on the bench, their shoulders are brushing, but it feels comfortable, natural.

Their song reaches its climax, then Castiel presses his index finger to his lips with a shushing sound and they both play more silently and even slowly. Dean realizes that he’s gotten attuned to Castiel.

Then Castiel surprises him yet again, this time both his hands invade Dean’s space, his fingers brush the back of Dean’s hand and he realizes his heart is beating fast and his skin is alight.

He messes up a few notes and swears. Castiel doesn’t falter and leads them to the end. They play the last tone together, their eyes meeting.

Dean lets out a deep breath, he feels as if something has exploded in his chest.

"Fuck, man, that was awesome _!_ "

Castiel’s smile is a little coy when they shake hands.

"Hey, could I buy you a coffee or something? I feel like I owe for this."

Castiel shakes his head, his smile is brighter now.

"You don’t owe me, Dean."

"Fine, but still-"

"I’d love to have coffee with you, but my plane is leaving in a few minutes. I have to go." He looks almost as disappointed as Dean feels.

They say their goodbyes, then Dean watches him disappear into the crowd.

He feels weird. Like he had the best foreplay of his life and then his partner left.

He only realizes he’s still sitting at the piano when somebody clears their throat behind him.

It’s been weeks since his airport meeting with Castiel, but Dean can’t stop thinking about it. Even though he knows how silly it is. He starts practicing more, not because he cherishes some unrealistic fantasy of meeting Castiel again, but because he liked what it felt like to play beautiful music.

It’s just a coincidence, just the world being small and fate being ridiculous. He finds the video on Facebook and it takes him a moment to realize the familiar guy is himself.

It’s him and Castiel at the airport. He knew there were people watching them, he could have guessed some of them recorded it, but he would never expect to come across it on social media. Yet here he is watching his impromptu duet with Castiel. His heart is beating as hard as it was when he had Castiel by his side.

It only takes a few clicks to find out that Castiel has shared the video on his Facebook wall. And then Dean almost chokes on air.

Castiel Novak is a professional musician, a big name in the world of classical music. According to the posters shared on his page, he just had a concert in Sydney.

Dean stares at his screen barely able to breathe.

Then he does what everybody would do in his place, or at least he tries to tell himself everybody would do it, to convince himself it’s not creepy at all - he goes through Castiel’s post. There are goofy photos taken by his friends and professional promo photos taken for interviews and posters and Castiel is looking gorgeous in all of them.

There’s no more place for denying. Dean has a crush on the stranger he met at the airport who also happens to be a famous pianist.

He spares a moment to just laugh at himself.

Then he watches the video again, observing his own starstruck expression and Castiel’s soft smile. He watches it more times than he would admit.

Then his eyes finally fall on the caption Cas added when he shared the video.

 _Met a very nice young man at the airport, played a little duet with him. Big thanks to whoever recorded and shared this video. It’s a very fond memory._  

Dean reads it. Then he reads it again. Then he reads it out loud.

Feeling bold, he decides to write a comment. It takes him almost 30 minutes to get it right, but he’s satisfied with the result.

_Hi, Castiel! I’m so happy I found this video. Thank you for such an amazing experience, it was wonderful playing with someone so talented as you. It even motivated me to start practicing more ;)_

He posts the comment, then waits. He realizes how ridiculous it is. Cas is probably busy right now, or he might be in a different time zone where it’s the middle of the night, or he might just ignore the comment. He probably receives tons of messages from his fans.

It would be stupid to waste time waiting for a reply, so Dean decides to engage in a little stalkerish activity instead. He googles Castiel Novak and reads a few articles about him.

A prodigy born in Prague who won his first piano contest at the age of six, had his first big concert at the age of eight and from the age of ten performs all over the world. He keeps his personal life very private but he’s open about his sexual orientation and has been seen at multiple pride events in multiple countries.

Dean closes his laptop and takes a walk. He tries not to think about Castiel, he tries really hard. He doesn’t open facebook for the rest of the day, keeps himself busy. But he can only stretch his patience so far.

He opens his laptop in the morning. His heart skips a beat when he sees a friendship request and a message.

_Dear Dean, I’m glad you contacted me. It was a nice experience for me too. It’s great you’re practicing more, you’re very talented._

Dean bites his lip as he types a reply. He’s not going to read the message million times this time, he’s going to act like a normal person who has been contacted by a celebrity he has a crush on.

_Hi, Cas! I didn’t expect you to reply, you must be bombarded by comments all the time. I’m glad you did, though. How are you?_

He accepts the friend request and waits. The little green dot implies Cas is online and indeed there are three little dots and then Cas’ reply.

_I don’t have nearly as many fans as people think. And I don’t play duets with all of them._

Dean smiles as he types, he feels lightheaded and bold. _Only the handsome ones?_

He immediately regrets it. When there’s a too long pause he starts to type something to save the situation, but then a reply appears.

_Yes. Only the handsome ones :)_

Dean grins. _I bet you could pick one at every Airport you visit._

_I’m actually at the airport now. I could look around but I’m afraid I won’t be that lucky this time._

Dean huffs out a laugh. His fingers are shaking a little. _Where are you going?_

_Prague. I get to spend a week home. I’m excited about it._

They just talk from then. About Dean’s school and hobbies, about Cas’ traveling and recording his new album. They talk about small things too, like what they ate or the shows they watch. They share cat videos and memes. Dean stays up at ungodly hours just to chat with Cas more often than is healthy but he doesn’t regret it.

Their first skype call is with Cas at the airport again a month into their Facebook friendship.

"I’m too tired to type." Is the first thing Cas says. Dean almost forgot how cute his accent is.

"This is better anyway," Dean admits with a grin.

They skype regularly from then.

Dean tries not to think about their relationship too hard. He enjoys it for what it is. He genuinely likes Castiel, likes his humor, likes his gentle nature, likes how humble he is despite what he managed in his young age.

But sometimes, in the quiet moments in the middle of the night when everything seems possible, he thinks about Castiel’s eyes, about his lips and what would happen if they met in person again.

In the morning he pretends he never had those thoughts.

"Dean? Would you mind giving me your address?"

"Why? Are you stopping by? Do I need to clean up?" Dean jokes. He’s surprised when he sees the slight blush on Castiel’s cheeks and his chest tightens.

"No, but... I’d like to send you something."

"If you’re sick and tired of me you just need to say and I'll leave you alone, you don’t need to send me an envelope with anthrax."

Castiel laughs, he always laughs at Dean’s stupid jokes.

"Alright, no present for you if you insist on being dumb."

"Wait! A present? I want a present. I’ll give you the address."

The envelope gets nearly lost in his mail. He doesn’t recognize the name or the address and opens the letter with a frown.

He stops breathing as he pulls out two tickets. One for a flight to Washington D.C., one for a concert. There’s Castiel’s photo on the second one. He’s sitting at a piano in a dark blue suit and the light behind him makes him look like he has angel wings.

Dean’s knees buckle and he has to sit down.

There’s a letter attached. Dean forces himself to breathe as he starts to read.   

_Dear, Dean. I hope this is not too presumptuous of me but I’d like to invite you to my concert in Washington DC._

_I dare to say we’ve been friends for half a year and I thought it would be really nice to meet you in person again._

_If you find this weird, I’m very sorry, please feel free to sell the ticket and ignore my invitation._

_I’d really like to meet you, though._

When he’s done reading, Dean closes his eyes shut and presses the letter and the tickets against his chest grinning widely.

 

 _Just give your name at the entrance and they will let you to the rehearsal_ says Castiel’s last text. Dean pockets his phone and walks the last few steps to the entrance. True to Castiel’s words, they let him in without a word.

To Dean’s surprise, the music hall is almost empty. Cas is playing with an orchestra but its members don’t seem to be here yet.

Dean enters the hall and his breath hitches at the sight of Cas sloughed on the piano bench. He’s wearing worn out jeans and a loose t-shirt, but he’s still unbearably gorgeous.

Trying not to make a sound, Dean walks closer to the podium. Castiel isn’t playing, he’s just staring at the keys, his lips moving slightly.

There are steps on the side of the podium, the first one creaks under Dean’s weight. Cas turns to him and a whole range of emotion fly over his face. Surprise, excitement, fear, hope...

"Hi, Cas," Dean says silently.

"Hello, Dean," his voice is even more pleasant in person.

Dean climbs the steps and Cas stands up a little awkwardly.

"It’s nice to see you," he says and Dean huffs out a soft laugh to let out the pressure growing in his chest.

"Yeah, same." He takes a step forward and Castiel does the same.

 _Screw it_ is Dean’s last thought before he pulls Cas into an embrace. He feels Cas exhale hotly against his neck, then he slowly wraps his arms around Dean. Dean squeezes him a little tighter and inhales his smell. It’s the one thing he tried to remember but couldn’t, the one thing skype couldn’t transfer.

"How comes you’re here all alone," he asks when he reluctantly lets go of him.

"I like to do that before my concert. Helps me focus. But I think I’m done for now."

They sit on the bench and talk about Dean’s flight. Unwittingly, Dean plays a few notes. He notices that Cas is watching him with his head tilted. He withdraws his hand, his cheeks are getting warmer.

"Sorry, I shouldn’t touch it. I bet this piano is pretty expensive."

"It is, but I don’t see why you shouldn’t play it," Cas replies. "You practiced. Would you mind playing something for me?"

"Um, I don’t know," Dean mutters rubbing the back of his neck. "I don’t feel like playing in front of a professional."

"You already did once."

"Yeah, but I didn’t know who you were by then!"

Cas chuckles silently.

"What?" Dean asks but he’s feeling a little chuckle bubbling in his chest too.

"That’s why I responded to your facebook message. I knew you didn’t know who I was when we played together, but you still..." he trails off averting his eyes.

Dean can’t help but lean closer. "I still what?" he asks despite knowing the answer.

Cas heaves a deep breath. "Let’s play a duet again," he suggested.

Dean hesitates just for a moment before he starts to play the same song as he did months, thousands of text messages, hours of Skype calls ago.

Castiel joins in. Maybe it’s the quality of the instrument or the acoustics of the place or Dean’s practice but it sounds so much better.

This time Dean doesn’t mess up a single time.

When their eyes meet on the last tone, they hold the stare.

"Dean," Cas sighs. Dean leans closer.

"Cas?"

Cas closes the gap between them and presses their lips together.

The kiss starts slow, tentative, but it soon gains confidence. Dean enjoys greatly the feeling of Castiel’s silky hair slipping between his fingers, the way Cas moans a little into his mouth and holds on the lapels of Dean’s jacket.

"I’m so glad you came," Cas whispers against Dean’s lips.

"You had the brilliant idea to invite me," Dean admits before kissing him again.

"You know what I just realized?" Dean says when he pulls away. His lips are tingling and there are happy butterflies having a party under his ribs.

"What?" Cas asks, his eyes fixed on Dean’s lips.

"I didn’t book a hotel room."

"Oh. That’s unfortunate. But I happen to have one."

Dean grins. "Really? And is the bed big enough?"

"It’s king-size. We don’t even need to meet each other in there."

"But I want to meet you there," Dean pouts and earns himself a chuckle and a kiss.

 

The concert is beautiful. From his seat in the front row, Dean can appreciate the look on Castiel’s face, the way he commandeers the whole big space, the way the music flows through his whole body. It’s beautiful. But even more beautiful it is when Castiel grabs his hand after and drags him into his hotel room.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I appreciate any feedback. You can find this fic on [tumblr](https://cas-lost-grace.tumblr.com/post/185206129723/a-song-for-four-hands)


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